Gravity actuated door mounting



March 18, 1952 J. v. MILLER 2,590,028

GRAVITY ACTUATED DOOR MOUNTING Filed Aug. s, 1946 2 SHEETS-SI-IEET 1 March 18, 1952 J. v MILLER GRAVITY ACTUATED DOOR MOUNTING Filed Aug. 8, 1946 2 Sl-iEETS-Sl-IEET 2 gr WWW John Vance M/Y/efi Patented Mar. 18, 1952 UNITED PATENT OFFICE 2,590,028 GRAviTY ACTUATED noon MOUNTING John Va'nce Miller, Phoenix, Ariz.

Application August 8, 1946, Serial No. 689,271 9 4 Claims.

lhe present invention relates to mountings for closures such as doors, windows or shutters for openings in walls of buildings, cabinets, wardrobes, closets or similar enclosures, which mountings are so designed that a closure supported thereby will be firmly held in upright or closed position actuated by gravity and similarly held firmly in open position also actuated by gravity.

In other words, with the door in closed position, no amount of shaking or vibration can swing the door to partly or wholly opened position; nor can the door when standing open be shaken loose to close the opening.

In the accompanying drawing one embodiment of the invention is illustrated and like numerals inthe different Views represent the same details.

Figure 1 is a vertical section of a cabinet or box with the door'remove'd;

Figure 2 is a View in vertical section of the door with a bracket for the trunnion bearings attached;

s Figure '3 is a View similar to Figure 1 showing the door in open position in the cabinet;

Figure 4 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale, taken on a plane along line 4: 4 of Figure 3; and i Figure is a transverse section on a plane along line 5- 5 of Figure 4; I I p I In the drawing the numeral Iil designates a cabinet of any suitable size and having one or more compartments ll enclosed by side walls l2, rear wall [3, top anacond walls l4, l5 and a front wall doorway I6 reaching from the front trim I 1 to thebottom orfioor l5.

Any suitable material may be used for the cabinet, whether wood, metal, fiber or plastic.

The door 3 fills the door opening completely and its bottom edge is slightly beveled as at I!) to permit easy entry. The door is not hung on hinges of the usual kind, but is instead provided with trunnionsor lugs at each side edge. Thus a pair of top trunnions 20 is provided at the upper ends of two brackets 22, one at each sideof the door, which brackets reach downwardly to the lower portion of the door, where another pair of tiimnion's 23 is located further in from the inner face thereof. I

A side plate 25 of metal, preferably aluminum, if the cabinet is made of wood or the like, is secured as by screws 26, one on each side wall I4 of the cabinet. These plates have preferably the contour of a right angle triangle placed with the edges, forming the right angle, positioned along the bottom surface of the top wall [4 and the trim I! respectively, which coincides with inner surface of the door.

In Figure 2 is shown the door I 8 "of seize completely fill the opening M6 in the front wall of the cabinet from the trim ll down to the flobr or bottom I5. A slight bevel 19 at the b ttprn is. however, desirable to facilitate the clf door. Depending on what kind of material is used the thickness of the door varies cons On the inner surface 21 of the door it} and lose to each side edge thereof, one of the 'brackets22 is rigidly secured as by screws or rivets; the top edge of the bracket being flushwith tlre top edge of the door. These brackets are prefera ly'mad of aluminum angle bars andthe side flanges thereof are secured against the door. ,A i

About one half inch in from thedobr 21 and an equal distance down from its top each bracket 22 carries a, trunnion 2. The ioweitirunr nion 23 is carried on thebracket aboutone inch further in from {said door surface 27 and at a radial distance L'from trunnion 20, I g I The trunnions 20, 23 are p'erm'anently'fiirieii, as by threads 28, and the projecting por'ti'onth reef may carry an anti-friction roller 29, see Figures 4 and 5.

The side plates 25 are each provided w ligliide grooves or tracks, one, designated 36, for thetfop trunnion 2D and another, designated 40, "for the bottom trunnion23.

In laying out these grooves or tracks standard measurements are used, namely L for the radial distance between the trunnions 2'0 and 23 and H for the vertical drop of the transits; between locked and open positions of the door I8. These measurements are fixed for each cabinetjbutnlay vary proportionally in different sizes of cabinets. As an example in one case if L is 5 inches, H is For the top groove 36 a basic line 0 drawn parallel to the top edge 3| of the plate 25 and about 1 /2 inch therefrom, corresponding to /2 inch below the top edge of the door lB- a second line, designated 32, is'drawn parallel to line ;30,at a distance H below the same. A third line, designated 33,- is drawn vertically parallelto the'inner surface line 21 about /2 inch inwardly therefrom and a fourth line, designated 34, is drawn parallel to line 33 one inch still further. in; The intersection between lines 30 and 33 will be'called A and indicates the topmost position of trunnion 20; the intersection between lines 32 and 33 will be called A1 and indicates the lowermost position of trunnion 20. A point called B is marked off on line 34, at a radial distance L from point A, indi-' cating the position of trunnion 23, when the door iS Closed; and a point called Bi at a radial distance L from point A1, is marked off on line 33 and indicates the lowermost position of trunnion 23.

-On the line 32 a point C is marked ofi about 6%, inches from the inner surface plane 21 of the door, or sufiiciently far back to permit the placing of the door almost horizontally entirely within the cabinet when open. On line 30 a point D is laid ofi about 6 inches from the surface plane 21.

By now describing circles of a diameter to accommodate the trunnion or its roller and drawing tangent lines between the circles an upper guide groove or track 36 is outlined. The main portion of the groove 36 runs from point A1 slightly upward to point D while a back pocket is formed at 31 including point A. From D, a cam surface 38 leads down to point C where an inner pocket is thus provided.

By similarly drawing circles at points B, B1 and C1 and connecting them by tangent lines the lower guide groove or track for trunnion 23 is outlined on plate 25. Since point B lies higher than point B1 an upwardly slanting cam pocket 39 is thus obtained, while the middle portion 40 runs straight upward terminating with an arcuat'portion 4i and joins up with circle C1. It should be noted that both ends of grooves or tracks 36 and 40 are closed so that the trunnions 20 and 23 never run out of them.

The tracks proper for the trunnions will now be cut out along the tangent lines 36 and '40 in both plates 25. Completely filling the door opening between the'trini' l1 and'the floor l5,'the door 18 is then suspended and held firmly on trunnion 28 at A and trunnion 23 at B and since the center of gravity of the whole system l8 and 22 lies about halfway up the door, probably on or near'line 33, the components of the weight tend to swing the door [8 inwardly at point B and outwardly at point A where the trunnions 23; 20 meet with dead walls at the ends of the tracks, thereby firmly securing the door in closed position.

Similarly, when the door is raised into open position with trunnion 20 in the pocket at point C and trunnion 23 lifted up to point C1 the door is for the same reason held firmly open. It should be noted also that the constant distance L between the trunnions 2 and 23 must be adhered to between points A to B, between points A1 and B1, and as between points C and C1.

In order to facilitate the'opening and closing of the door [8 a handle 43 is provided at the lower end of the same.

Depending on its particular size and use different kinds of material maybe selected for the door, so that any metal, plastic or wood may be found suitable and this will not in any way change the general construction or design.

To open the door the operator takes hold of the handle 43 and pulls it towards himself until trunnions 23 drop down from position B to position B1 and trunnions drop from A to A1. He now pulls upwards on the handle 43, whereupon trunnions 23 will run up in tracks 40 and trunnions 20 will move along track and finally land in pocket C where the clip will hold it and trumiions 23 stop at point C1.

Thus the door whether closed or open will be held firmly. The term"door as used in the claims is intended to cover any commonly known closure for wall openings for buildings, wardrobes, closets, cabinets, boxes and the like.

At times, doors similarly guided by trunnions in rOove,.instead of swinging on vertical hinge axes, may be constructed in which it would be advisable to support the weight on casters or rollers. Since in that event the door weight would not aid in securely holding the door either in closed or open position other aids must be resorted to. For instance, fiat springs may be used contacting with the trunnions or rollers to prevent accidental closing or opening, or, if double doors were used, they may be slightly sprung in closing to gain the same feature.

It is to be understood that the invention as herein disclosed may be varied from the details described and shown without departure from the spirit of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In an enclosure having an entrance opening, a door completely filling said opening and means for firmly retaining the door in closed as well as in open position, said means comprising upper and lower trunnions on each side of the door and separate upper and lower bearing tracks for the upper and lower trunnions at each side of said opening, the trunnions being one inset relative to the other, the upper bearing tracks extending inwardly from the opening with short angularly directed closed ends forming pockets in which the upper trunnions are seated and maintained by the aid of the action of gravity and friction in the opened and closed positions of the door, the pocket of the upper track to hold the door in closed position being directed straight upwardly and the pocket for holding the door open being directly downwardly and inwardly from the general direction of the upper track, the lower bearing tracks bein in angular relation to the upper tracks and having upwardly and inwardly directed lower end pockets receiving the lower trunnions for holding the door in closed position.

2. In an enclosure having an entrance opening, a door completely filling said opening and means for firmly retaining the doorv in closed as well as in open position, said means comprising upper and lower trunnions on each side of the door and separate upper and lower bearing tracks for the upper and lower trunnions at each side of said opening, the trunnions being one inset relative to the other, the upper bearing tracks extending inwardly from the openingwith short angularly directed closed ends forming pockets in which the upper trunnions are seated and maintained by the aid of the action of gravity and friction in the opened and closed positions of thedoor, the pocket of the upper track to hold the door in closed position beingdirected straight upwardly and the pocket for holding the door openbeing directed downwardly and inwardly from the general direction of the upper track, the lower bearing tracks being in angular relation to the upper tracks and having upwardly and inwardly directed lower end pockets receivin the lower trunnions for holding the door in closed position, and rollers carried by said trunnions and engaging the bearing tracks.

3. Means for mounting a closure in an opening, comprising a pair of trunnions for each side of the closure, means supporting each pair of trunnions in Vertically spaced relation on and spaced from one face ofthe closure, the lower trunnion of each pair being positioned a greater distance from said closure face than the upper one, and a pair of guide tracks for the trunnions at each side of said opening, one track of each pair extendin inwardly at a slight upward inclination from the opening and having the top disposed therein, the other track of each pair being substantially vertical through the major part of its length and disposed beneath the end of the said one track which is nearest to the opening and having the lower one of the adjacent pair of trunnions slidably disposed therein, the said end nearest to the opening of the said one track of each pair being a short upwardly extending portion, and the said other track of each pair having at its lower end an upwardly and inwardly directed portion.

4. Means for mounting a closure in an opening, comprisin a pair of trunnions for each side of the closure, means supporting each pair of trunnions in vertically spaced relation on and spaced from one face of the closure, the lower trunnion of each pair being positioned a greater distance from said closure face than the upper one, and a pair of guide tracks for the trunnions at each side of said opening, one track of each pair extending inwardly at a slight upward incilnation from the opening and having the top one of the adjacent pair of trunnions slidably disposed therein, the other track of each pair being substantially vertical through the major part of its length and disposed beneath the end of the said one track which is nearest to the opening and having the lower one of the adjacent pair of trunnions slidably disposed therein, the end nearest to the opening of the said one track of each pair terminating in a short upwardly directed portion and the opposite end thereof terminating in a short curving terminal portion, and the upper end of the other track of each pair terminating in an arcuate inwardly directed portion and the lower end thereof terminating in a short upwardly and inwardly directed straight portion.

JOHN VANCE MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 479,857 Tettelbach Aug. 2, 1892 1,115,345 Steuernagel Oct. 27, 1914 1,855,953 Friedrich Apr. 26, 1932 2,202,277 Visser May 28, 1940 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 19,176/34 Australia Aug. 7, 1935 398,619 Great Britain Sept. 21, 1933 835,210 France Sept. 19, 1938 

